Counter-operating mechanism.



G. G. ABBOTT. COUNTER OPERATING MEUHANISM.

APPLICATION mum PBB.13, 1911.

.2 SHEETS-*BHEET 1.

WITNESSES:

INVENTOR I Mi ATTORNEY Mill-IL Wm" Nu VIBIIINIIM. D- C- Patented Aug. 1,1911.

G. G. ABBOTT. COUNTER OPERATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED mm. 13, 1911.

Patented Aug. 1, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNE88E8:

' hrromvsr UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES C. ABBOTT, 0F PITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO TRIUMPHVOTING MACHINE COMPANY, OF PITTSFIEID, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OFNEW JERSEY.

o all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES C. ABBOTT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Pittsfield, county of Berkshire, State of Massachusetts,have invented an Improvement in Counter-Operating Mechanism, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to the counter operating mechanism of votingmachines and has for its object to provide simple and reliable means forconnecting actuated voting members with the corresponding counters whichwill lock the counters against removal and against improper actuationeither forward or backward, will insure the mechanism against injuryfrom being tampered with and will render a dead center impossible in anyposition of the parts and under any conditions that can arise.

IVith these and other objects in view'I have devised the simple andnovel counter connecting and locking mechanism which I will nowdescribe, referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of thisspecification and using reference characters to indicate the severalparts:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of a counter locking bar showingvoting members connected with the crank pins of corresponding counters;Fig. 2 a section on the line 22 in Fig. 1, looking in the direction ofthe arrows, showing the counter carrier and counters; Fig. 3 a detailplan view of the counter locking bar on an enlarged scale, showing anopening for a counter pin; Fig. 4 a plan view of a counter provided withmy novel movable crank pin; Fig. 5 a section on the line 55 in Fig. 4,looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 6 a section on the line 66in Fig. 5, looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 7 a detailelevation on an enlarged scale as seen from the left in Fig. 1; Fig. 8 asection on the line'88 in Fig. 7, with the counter dog in the disengagedposition; Figs. 9 and 10 are diagrammatic views illustrating the travelof the counter crank pin of a disconnected counter when the countercarrier is moved, as by the operation of the exit mechanism; and Figs.11 and 12 are diagrammatic views illustrating the operation of themechanism in preventing a dead center.

10 denotes voting member shafts,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 13, 1911.

counter dogs carried thereby, 12 the counter Patented Aug. 1, 1911.Serial No. 608,417.

carrier, 13 counters, 14 the counter operating pins and 15 the counterlocking bar which is provided with openings 16 through which theoperating pins pro ect.

In 'performing the voting operation the voter oscillates voting membershafts, which places the counter dogs carried by said shafts inengagement with the operating pins of the corresponding counters. Whenthe counter carrier is operated each enga ed counter is caused to make acomplete bofily rotation about its 0 crating pin which is held by thecounter o At the end of the counting operation a 1 counter operatingpins whether previously engaged or disengaged will be at their normalposition in engagement with the walls of openings 16, as in Fig. 3, sothat any movement of a counter shaft either to count or uncount orremoval of counters is made impossible.

17 denotes counter shafts. The operative endof each counter shaftextends beyond the case and carries a disk 18 to which a housing 19 issecured. Each counter operating pin is carried by a plate 20 which liesloosely in the housin and is provided with a slot 21 through w ich thecounter shaft passes. One end of the top of the housing is provided withwalls 22 and 23 lying at an angle to each other which are adapted to beengaged by the counter operating pin. The openings 16 in the counterlocking bar are preferably shaped substantially as shown in Fig. 3. Theessential features of these openings are straight walls 24 and 25 whichlie at approximately a right angle to each other and straight walls 26and 27 which lie parallel to each other and at an angle of fortyfivedegrees more or less to walls 24 and 25. At the intersection of walls 24and 25 a recess 28 is provided. During the normal operation of counting,the operating pins of the engaged counters remain seated in recesses 28.1

Figs. 9 and 10 show the movement of the operating pin of a disengagedcounter when the counter carrier is operated.

In Fig. 9, the dotted line indicated by 29 shows the path of movement ofthe counter shaft from left to right and the dotted line indicated by 30shows the path of movement of the counter operating pin, which isretained for a moment in recess 28. Then the pin leaves this recess itmoves in a curved path until it engages wall 27 by Which its movement isstopped and the counter shaft is turned but not enough by anypossibility to cause an actuation of the counter. As the movement of thecounter carrier in that direction is continued, the pin will pass offfrom wall 27 and travel in a curved path until it engages wall 24: alongwhich it will slide into recess 28. The exact position of the counteroperating pin in recess 28 is unimportant but it is found desirable toprovide a recess as a seat for the pin at the intersection of walls 24and 25. Fig. 10 corresponds with Fig. 9 with the exception that themovement is from right to left. The dotted line indicated by 31 showsthe path of movement of the counter shaft and the line indicated by 32shows the path of movement of the counter operating pin. lVhen thelatter pin leaves recess 28 it moves in a curved path until it engageswall 26 by which its movement is stopped as before but no count canpossibly be made. As the movement of the counter carrier in thatdirection is continued, the pin will pass otf from wall 26 and willtravel in a curved path until it engages wall 25 along which it willslide into recess 28. The counters are ordinarily attached to thecounter carrier Without screws by simply being slid to place, thecounters being provided with ribs 33 which engage corresponding slots inthe counter carrier. An additional function of wall 2% is to render itimpossible to remove a counter when the machine is locked, the wallbeing engaged by the counter operating pin and preventing the Withdrawalof the counter from the slot in the carrier.

Figs. 11 and 12 illustrate the manner in which a dead center is madeimpossible during any possible operation of the counter carrierirrespective of whether the counter operating pins are engaged ordisengaged by counter dogs. In ordinary use the counter dogs are eitherin the non-voted position, as in full lines in Fig. 8, or in the votedposition as in Figs. 1, 2 and T. In-the nonvoted position, the counteroperating pins travel as in Figs. 9 and 10. In the voted position thepins do not travel being held by the counter dogs in recesses 28 at theintersection of walls 24: and 25 of the openings in the counter lockingbar while the counter carrier swings the counters around in a circle,the counter shafts making a complete rotation about the counteroperating pins and consequently each counter shaft making a completerotation and causing an actuation of the counter. These two conditionsare the only ones that exist in a legitimate use of the machine and nodead center is possible, but if the machine should be experimented withby anyone during a demonstration or at other times when it is possibleto get at it and one or more counter dogs thrown off after the counterswere partly operated, it might result in a dead center and possibleinjury to the mechanism were it not for the provisions I am about todescribe. Figs. 11 and 12 illustrate the condition where a counter doghas been thrown off after the counter has been partly operated. Thecounter operating pin has traveled along wall 22 on the end of thehousing since the dog left it. The first portion of the movement of thecounter operating pin is in an arc of a circle concentric with the pathof travel of the counter shaft until the pin engages wall. in opening 16in the counter locking bar. When this occurs, further travel of thecounter causes the pin to slide along wall 25 of opening 16 and wall 22on the end of the housing and the movement of the pin continues untilthe parts are in the last position shown in Fig. 12 when the countershaft is passing the pin on its way to its normal position. Furthertravel of the counter draws the pin back along wall 25 of the opening inthe counter locking bar and out along wall 23 on the housing and finallythe parts reach their normal position. The pin is free to make themovements just described owing to the fact that plate 20 by which it iscarried has perfect freedom of movement in the housing as will beunderstood from Fig. 6.

In the structure illustrated, a dead center is impossible owing to thefact that the counter operating pin is free to travel along the walls ofthe opening in the counter operating bar and on the end of the housingaway from a dead center. These provisions do not come into play inordinary legitimate use, their sole purpose being to prevent injury tothe mechanism from any improper use of the machine either intentional orotherwise.

The counter dogs are ordinarily blanked out and formed from sheet metal.It will be noted that the counter o ')erating pins are conepointed andthat the backs of the counter dogs incline upward away from the counteroperating pins as at 34. lVhen the exit mechanism is operated by a voterleaving the machine, the disengaged counter operating pins will passaround beneath their respective counter operating dogs. Suppose now thattwo parties were experimenting to beat the machine or to injure it andthat one should operate one or more voting members after the other hadstarted to operate the exit mechanism. The counter dogs would come downon the tops of the counter operating pins, but as the backs of the dogsslant away from the pins in the same direction as the path of travel ofthe pins, the points of the pins would slide along the backs of the dogsand there would be no possibility of engagement of the parts even if thecounter dogs should be held down on the pins by force.

Having thus described my invention I claim:

1. The (.Oll'llJllliltlOll with a counter shaft, a housing carriedthereby and having operative walls at one end and a counter operatingpin movable relatively to the counter shaft and adapted to engage theWalls on the housing, of a counter dog and a counter lGClilllg barhaving an opening and a recess in which the operating pin is held by thecounter dog during the operation of countmg.

The combination with a counter shaft, a housing carried thereby andhaving operative walls at one end and a counter operating pin movablerelatively to the counter shaft and adapted to engage the walls on thehousing, of a counter dog, and a counter locking bar having an openingwith straight walls which are engaged by the pin.

The combination with a counter shaft, a housing carried thereby andhaving operative walls at one end and a counter operating pin nio *ablerelatively to the counter shaft and adapted to engage the walls on thehousing, of a counter dog, and a counter locking bar having an openingwith a straight wall ll which is engaged by the pin to prevent removalof the counter.

+1. The combination with a counter shaft, a housing carried thereby andhaving operative walls at one end and a counter operating pin movablerelatively to the counter shaft and adapted to engage the walls on thehousing, of a counter dog, and a counter locking bar having an openingwith straight walls along which the pin slides to prevent a dead centershould the machine be tampered with.

The combination with a cone-pointed counter operating pin, of a counterdog adapted to engage the pin and having a back inclined away from thepin to prevent engagement should the machine be tampered with.

6. The combination with a counter shaft and a housing carried therebyand having operative walls at one end, of a plate lying loosely withinthe housing and carrying an operating pin adapted to engage theoperative walls of the housing and a counter locking bar having anopening with operative walls 2t, 25, 26 and 27 adapted to be engaged bythe operating pin, substantially as described, for the purposespecified.

7. The combination with a counter shaft and a housing carried therebyand having operative walls at one end, of a plate lying loosely withinthe housing and carrying an operating pin adapted to engage theoperative walls of the housing and a counter-locking bar having anopening with operative walls lying at an angle to each other and otheroperative walls parallel with each other and at an angle to the firstmentioned walls and a recess at the intersection of the first mentionedwalls, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

S. The combination with a counter shaft and a housing carried thereby,of a plate lying loosely in the housing, a counter operating pin carriedthereby and a counter locking bar having an opening with operative wallslying at an angle to each other and other operative walls parallel toeach other and at an angle to the first mentioned walls, substantiallyas described, for the purpose specified.

9. The combination. with a counter shaft and a housing carried thereby,of a plate lying loosely in the housing, a counter operating pin carriedthereby and a counter locking bar having an opening with operative wallslying at an angle to each other With a recess at the intersection ofsaid walls, and other operative walls parallel to each other and at anangle to the first mentioned walls, substantially as described, for thepurpose specified.

10. The combination with a counter shaft and a housing carried therebyand having ope 'ative walls at one end, of a plate lying loosely in thehousing, a counter operating pin carried thereby and adapted to engagesaid operative walls and a counter locking bar having an opening withoperative Walls also engaged by the counter operating pin, substantiallyas described, for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

CHARLES C. ABBOTT.

VVitnesse EDMUND A. HAsKINs, Geo. O. B. HAWLEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

